Shadowed Borders
by Heir Guardian
Summary: sequel to in Realms Beyond Reality...Yami found his light now is Yugi willing to find his darkness?
1. I

SHADOWED BORDERS  
  
Well, here it is….the sequel….this might turn into a series…what have I gotten myself into.  
  
I.  
  
Yugi sighed and rolled over in his bed. He was content for the moment. Nothing was going wrong, his friends were all happy and Yami was finally at ease.  
  
Yami…  
  
All the trouble they had gone through and all the chaos that Yami himself had put up with. He remembered that time, even though it had been months ago. He remembered being separated from his other half, remembered the loss of part of himself.  
  
But no longer, Yami was content and the cards were at ease.  
  
/Yami..?/  
  
//Yes//  
  
/Ready for the beach tomorrow?/  
  
//Yep, now sleep, my light.//  
  
  
  
"Yugi, hurry up! The water is great!" Tea's voice reached him from across the beach. He turned and laughed as he watched his friends play in the water. Even the Kaiba brothers had come.  
  
Yugi ran to the waters and enjoyed the feel of the cool liquid around his legs.  
  
//Yugi? What is Mokuba doing?//  
  
Yugi turned to find the brothers and saw that Mokuba was burying Seto in the sand. He laughed.  
  
/They are having fun in the sand, just being brothers./  
  
//Okay…//  
  
Yugi was then distracted by Joey and Tristan, who were out in the water, preparing for what looked like a race. Mai and tea were laughing and everything was going so well. They beckoned him over and he joined them, the water reaching almost to his shoulders.  
  
"Hey Yugi! We're going to race out to that rock cropping. But we need someone to judge. Could you go out there and be ready to judge?"  
  
"Sure Joey. Just give me a few minutes to get out there." He dove into the water and headed to the rock cropping that they had pointed out. He enjoyed moving in the water and was almost to the rocks in less time that he had thought. Then it hit.  
  
His leg hit something and his leg was scraped open. The pain froze him for a moment and in that moment he lost his concentration and went under. The feel of water around him caused him to panic and he flailed about.  
  
//Light! Relax! Please!//  
  
But he couldn't he felt the rocks around him. He didn't realize how far under the rocks went and how jagged they were. He saw the rock seconds before he hit it and his mind went blank. It was growing dark and he felt light and cold. Dimly he heard a voice he felt he should remember…  
  
//Yugi! My light, don't leave me!!//  
  
  
  
He opened his eyes and saw white. It took him awhile to figure out it was a ceiling of some kind. He blinked and heard someone gasp beside him. He turned his head slowly, still unsure of where he was.  
  
He saw a pretty young girl with brown hair sitting in a chair by what he now assumed was a hospital bed. She smiled and looked about to cry. He wondered why.  
  
"Yugi! You're awake. I was so worried but I knew you would make it." He frowned at hearing this. Why had she been worried and why did she call him Yugi, he was…  
  
He didn't know.  
  
He shook his head, hoping to clear it and remember, but nothing came. The girl seemed to sense his confusion and a bit of worry crept into her eyes.  
  
"Yugi," she asked softly, "Do you know who I am?" He shook his head. "Do you know who you are?" He opened his mouth to speak, but found he still didn't know. Wait! He remembered someone calling him Light before. Maybe that was his name. He thought it over for a minute and it felt right.  
  
"I'm Light." She looked startled. He frowned. Why would she be upset if he remembered who he was. She looked closely at him.  
  
"Do you know who Yami is?" That question caused him to stop and think a minute. Yami. He had heard that name before…No!  
  
A flash of light went across his vision, causing him to cry out in pain. Yami was confusion, Yami was hurt, Yami was…Dark. How could that be a person. He turned to the girl and shook his head. She looked ready to burst into tears.  
  
"Oh Yugi, I'm so sorry. If we hadn't asked you to swim out there, if only you had stayed with us. You would remember." She was crying as she reached down and picked something off the floor. It was a pendant that seemed to also be a puzzle. It was shaped as an upside down pyramid and had a cord attached to it. She held it out to him.  
  
"Do you remember this?" He shook his head but still took it when she handed it to him. When his hands touched it he thought he heard a voice cry out and then the puzzle broke. The pieces lay all over the bed, except for the one he was holding onto. The one with the cord wrapped around it.  
  
"What is this, a puzzle?" He asked the girl, but her eyes were looking at the scattered pieces. She seemed really upset. He patted her arm and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure you could get a refund or someone could help you put it together." It didn't seem to help. She stared at him for a moment and then whispered.  
  
"It's yours and you were the only one who could put it together. Don't you remember it? Can't you remember its importance?" He could only shake his head as she cried clutching on to him. She kept repeating the same things over again and again,  
  
"I'm sorry Yugi, I'm sorry Yami, I'm so sorry.."  
  
  
  
They had brought him to what they had told him was his home., but Light didn't remember any of it. He looked around and saw pictures about something called 'Duel Monsters'. It looked violent and didn't interest him in the slightest.  
  
He sat down on the bed, still holding on to the bag with the pieces of the puzzle in it. The elderly man that had picked him up from the hospital had said he was his Grandfather, but Light didn't recognize him. But he knew to respect his elders and had done as the man had asked him and kept the pieces with him.  
  
Other people had been in the shop that was under the living area of this place and they had all called him Yugi. He didn't know who any of them where. But when the girl from the hospital had told them that he had amnesia they had all looked really sad. The blond and browned haired boys looked really upset.  
  
He had told them his name and the white haired young man had seemed to react to that. He made a note to go and talk with him. Maybe he had really known him before all this had happened. They had all seemed nearly devastated when they had seen the pieces of the puzzle.  
  
They had looked like a friend had just died, and when he had told them that he had no intention of trying to put it back together…the blond boy had looked ready to attack him, but was held back. All others just stood there in shock.  
  
They had sent him upstairs to rest, so he had gone. He didn't know them and didn't feel like talking to them. But something wasn't feeling right. At first he had thought it was just because he was in a strange environment or that the cut on his head was bothering him, but no. This was different. More important, somehow. But he couldn't quite place his finger on it. It was like he was missing something, something important. He looked down at the bag and decided he didn't want to hold it anymore. He got up and put it on the desk, next to a stack of cards.  
  
He looked at the cards curiously for a moment and then picked up the first one. It had a picture of the sea and was called a Field card. He didn't know what that was. It was not until he had said its name out loud that he felt anything.  
  
"Umi." He had just whispered it, but all of a sudden it felt like he was surrounded by water and he panicked. He saw rocks close by and put a hand out to stop them. When he felt nothing there he realized he was still in the room, the card clutched tightly in his hand.  
  
He was shaking and terrified. But of what…he didn't know. He set the card back down on the deck and the feeling of missing something grew almost unbearable.  
  
"Whatever has happened, has happened. I'll be fine." He was talking to himself and he knew it, but it seemed to work. He relaxed and went over to the bed. He lay down and didn't bother turning off the lights. Something about the dark bothered him. He didn't worry about it, he just turned his head and, frowned.  
  
There was a peg by his bed and it seemed as if something should be hanging there. He ignored the feeling and went to sleep. If he had only listened for a moment he would have heard it. The desperate plea, sounding as if it were coming through a closed door.  
  
//My Light, Yugi! Please! Don't leave me!//  
  
  
  
Yami had been pounding at the door to his soul room for what felt like days and still no reply. He couldn't get through to his light and he was growing weaker. His light was part of his strength and after all the fighting to try and find a balance…  
  
"The sea goes and takes him away from me." He remembered the first time had dueled with Yugi on a sea field. The dueler had wanted to find his father. The sea had claimed another life at that time and now it had taken part of his.  
  
He slumped down against his door and stared in to the black that surrounded him and offered him no other escape. For the first time in his life he did what only Yugi had ever done before.  
  
He cried. The darkness was sapping his heart, while fueling his powers. If this kept up, he wouldn't be able to fight the call of the Shadow realm and the power deep within it. But for Yugi's sake, he would fight it off.  
  
For as long as he could, even if it meant destroying himself.  
  
  
  
Light woke up in the morning, trying to remember the strange dream he had had. There had been an elf in armor and a magician in purple. They had been calling out to him, but although he could see their mouths moving, he couldn't hear anything. They had seemed to realize that and were gesturing to something by them. He had looked and gasped.  
  
There, crumbled on the floor had been what he would have called his twin. The ruby eyes had been lifeless and his whole body had screamed defeat. To Light's mind this didn't seem right. He had tried running to the double calling out to him, but something had stopped him.  
  
Dragons appeared out of the shadows and blocked his path to the boy, but he could still see him and the shape of a man behind him. He could also make out the glint of a chain that ran from his hand to around his double's neck.  
  
He felt angry at this and was about to charge through when the elf and magician had pulled him back. He had woken up at that part and lay there on the bed, wondering what it had meant. He felt weak, but just assumed that it was because of his injury. He got out of bed and was about to exit the room when something he stopped him. He turned back and looked on the desk.  
  
The bag with the pieces looked so rejected that light couldn't help it. He picked up the bag and took it with him downstairs. He didn't know why, but he felt better just having it with him. Downstairs he met an even larger group than last night. There was a girl with blond hair and two other guys. A young one with a lot of black hair and a tall slender one with brown hair. They looked to be brothers. He looked at all of them and then the old man came out with trays of food.  
  
Light's stomach reminded him he was hungry and so he went top get some food from one of the trays. Others were doing the same, but they kept watching him out of the corner of their eyes. He didn't much care. He couldn't help them.  
  
He set the bag down to grab the food, but something screamed at him to not let go of it. It hit him so hard that he gasped and clutched the bag, but his hand slipped and he fell to his knees. The slender brown haired boy grabbed for him and held him. He was feeling very weak and knew he needed the bag.  
  
The boy seemed to sense this and handed it to him. He sighed in relief as some of the weakness passed. The white haired boy was watching him very carefully and it may have been because he was dizzy, but his eyes looked different than yesterday.  
  
Light didn't know what was going on, but as he looked down at the bag he began to realize that the puzzle was important.  
  
So why was he scared to put it together.  
  
  
  
Yami felt his Light's fear and it took more strength from him. He couldn't even reach out to his deck anymore. The borders between his world and the Shadow realm grew darker and Yami shuddered. A pair of eyes gleamed out of their darkness and he knew who they belonged to.  
  
If his light didn't come back to him soon…  
  
//I'll destroy myself before I will become a card for 'him'. I swear it!// 


	2. II

II.  
  
Light sat down in the big comfy chair that had been put in front of the large screen. The bag was in his lap. He looked around at all the people and didn't know what to think. They had all introduced themselves, so at least he could put a name to each of the faces before him.  
  
They had taken him to the one called Kaiba's mansion, and had brought him to the room he now sat in. It looked so familiar, staring at the blank screen in front of him. The others stood around him and seemed to be holding their breath while Kaiba rummaged around for something off to the side.  
  
Finally he came back and held up a round disk.  
  
"I tape everything that has shown up on this screen, including the events that happened a few months ago." He looked at light. "Hopefully this will help you remember Yami." He turned to the one called Bakura. "It needs a link to reactivate." The boy seemed to understand and brought out a weird shaped ring. He chanted over it as Kaiba placed the disk into a panel near the bottom of the screen.  
  
It took a few minutes, but something finally appeared on the screen. It was his double from the dream and he was riding a giant silver wolf. Light didn't understand. Did they know who his double was? He watched for hours as his double fought and was used. He recognized the Dragon Lord from his dream and then he saw himself beside his double. Working with him.  
  
Together.  
  
Light and Dark.  
  
Then other images flew into his head. Of times when his double was willing to sacrifice lives to win. Times when he took control of light and times where he hurt others, played with their minds as if it were a game. This is whom they wanted back?  
  
He knew who his double was now and he was glad to be rid of him. He didn't need someone inside him who would hurt others. He took the pieces of the puzzle and threw it at the screen, it shattered and glass and pieces covered the floor. He turned to them.  
  
"I won't let him come back, whoever he is. I do know that he is dark and evil and I lived without him before and I can do so again. He's not coming back!" He felt something shatter within him, but refused to acknowledge it, even as he ran. He didn't know where he was going so he just kept running.  
  
  
  
Yami felt the bond die and the light within him go out. There was nothing left to do. Yugi had made his choice and Yami knew what he must do.  
  
He gathered his power and was ready to strike at himself, destroying his very existence when something stopped him. Two arms came around him and held him captive. But that wasn't what scared him.  
  
On the wrist of one arm was a card and it was active.  
  
That card was him. He wanted to scream as he was dragged into the shadow realm, but could do nothing. He had failed his light and his friends. He watched his soul room disappear and a cage come into view. He was thrown into the cage and hit the ground hard. He didn't bother moving. He heard the dragons that guarded his new home.  
  
He didn't even have enough of Yugi left within him to cry.  
  
//I'm sorry my light. I wish you happiness and that we never have to face each other//  
  
  
  
Light stared out at the sea. His feet had taken him here, though he did not know why. He sat on the sand and tried to make the tears that wanted to come go away. He had made his choice and now he would have to live with it. They would get over the other soon and things would be back to normal.  
  
He didn't realize how long he had stayed there on the beach, until the sun shone directly in his eyes. It was setting and he knew he had better get in doors while he could. He didn't know where else to go so he headed to the place they had taken him after the hospital.  
  
But before he left the beach, he looked back, out into the sea and saw a rock sitting out there. He remembered a voice trying to calm him down, to help him. But he didn't know who the voice belonged to. It was no one he had met yet. Whoever it was, though, must have cared a lot about him.  
  
/Too bad they aren't here now, when I need help the most/  
  
He turned away from the sea and headed towards the only place he knew. It took him awhile but he finally found it and went inside. He heard everyone in the living room and decided he didn't want to see them, so he quickly ran up to the room he had slept in the night before. He opened the door and stopped in his tracks.  
  
Other people were in his room. Or should he say, other things. The purple magician was there, along with a knight and a purple stallion. A big skeleton-like creature and the elf with the sword were also there. But it what was in the magician's hands that truly stopped him. The puzzle.  
  
It was still in pieces but all of them where there. They all looked over at him as he entered. It was strange but he didn't feel fear around them, almost as if he knew them. He walked over to the magician and stared down at the broken puzzle. Something within him was telling him that it wasn't to late, that he could still put it together.  
  
He reached for it but the magician pulled it away. He glared at light and there were tears in his eyes.  
  
"You destroyed him. He went through hell to find a balance and to try and make peace with you and you destroyed him. Tossing him aside without trying to remember." Light was confused. He had remembered. He had remembered all the evil that had been done.  
  
"But did you bother to remember why he did what he did and how he made up for it?" Light turned to the elf that had spoken. He looked so sad when Light shook his head no. "He did the things he did to try and protect the ones you cared about. He was your strength as you were his. Now he has been captured and the balance that he had worked to create is being destroyed."  
  
"The Lord of Dragons is using him to defeat the occupants of the shadow realm one by one. Those not strong enough to be cards are just destroyed. He is using the power Yami possesses to do this. When you broke the link between the two of you, Yami grew weak enough to be caught in his card." The knight had been talking and he paused a moment and sighed. "Many have tried to free the Pharaoh, but none have succeeded. We can't reach him and as long as he is a card, he can't be defeated."  
  
It was Light's turn to cry. He felt the pain of those within the room and he knew them as friends. They had helped him in battle and had never broken trust. But now he had betrayed them. The giant fiend looked over at him and said the words that made everything in light click.  
  
"Light can't exist without darkness."  
  
He reached for the puzzle again and this time it was placed in his hands. As soon as he touched it, everyone else disappeared. He sat on the floor and began to try and put it back together. He wanted to here the voice that had saved him many times over. He wanted to feel the other's presence in the back of his head and he wanted his friend back. If only he would accept him.  
  
/Yami! I'm coming to get you. I don't know how and I don't know if you'll let me…but I have to try/  
  
He took the first piece of the puzzle and started working.  
  
Downstairs, Bakura felt his Yami shifting and wondered, it wasn't till his ring pointed upstairs that he understood. Something had happened and the millennium puzzle was being put back together. The others in the room recognized this and sat down to wait. They were going to do everything they could to help, even if it meant going to the Shadow Realm.  
  
  
  
Mystical Elf felt it, even as she was making sure her people fled the dragon's path. The borders between the two worlds that had been clearly defined before were shifting and changing.  
  
But she also saw hope.  
  
Another blast shook the land behind her and she heard a familiar attack shake the earth and destroy another monster. She felt the presence of the Green Phantom King, but didn't turn.  
  
"Even as a card, he can wield other cards. I saw that first hand when I used him. Unless he regains his light he will not be able to be destroyed." She knew his words for truth and pulled out the card that would be need in the future.  
  
Polymerzation. The fusion of two beings.  
  
She looked again for that hope she had felt and it grew stronger. Some may yet survive this attack. 


	3. III

III.  
  
  
  
Light sat there, completely frustrated. All of the pieces of the puzzle were together, all except one. The one piece that held the cord would not go in. He knew exactly where it went, but something was stopping. It wasn't physical, it was emotional.  
  
To put in the last piece this time, would be a commitment, a promise, and a vow. He would be excepting his darker half into his life again or else he would be bound to go and find him. He knew all this and yet was still scared.  
  
He remembered Kaiba, ready to risk his life and Yami, ready to go through with it. He remembered all those that Yami had hurt, all for him. That's what scared him really, that Yami would do that for him. Yami would risk another's life, including his own to save Light. Could he accept that kind of loyalty? Could he live up to it? Did he even want to try?  
  
Until he knew that answer, he would never be able to complete the puzzle. He would never be able to get Yami back. He knew he wanted him with him again, but, he didn't know.  
  
A spasm shook his body, causing him to drop the piece. No! He knew what was happening. He was growing weaker. He felt the strength leave his body, his vision darkened and the puzzle was lost within it. He collapsed to the floor, never hearing those he loved come running through the door.  
  
It wasn't just that he was getting weaker…he was dying.  
  
  
  
The Dragon Lord looked into Yami's cage, grinning. This one card had brought him almost the entire Shadow Realm. All that was left were the Plains and the Forest. Everything else was his. He stroked his hand through the tri-coloured hair and smiled as Yami lifted his head, ruby eyes ready for battle.  
  
It was amazing the difference in the once Pharaoh. Before, when he cared, he was weaker, not as daring. But now, with nothing to lose, he fought with a fury unmatched in the realm. Even the Dragons were in awe of him. But not their Lord. He smirked.  
  
While he had control of Yami's card, Yami could do nothing against him. But there was a bonus to having Yami on the field. All Fiends and Spellcasters were raised in power, while all Fairy-types were lowered. It was so much fun!  
  
Yami's eyes shone and the symbol on his red glove glowed. The Lord moved away and Yami followed. The card knew when a battle approached and he was ready to fight. The Lord activated the card and Yami went into attack. Dimly Yami heard a cry of pain and knew it to not be of this realm, but it was no longer his concern.  
  
He was the Darkness and he had no need of anything else. He grew stronger still, even as a part of him died, died at the loss of his light.  
  
  
  
Bakura looked at the pale boy in his arms. The others were with Yugi's Grandpa, looking for any clue as to how to help him. So far, they had found nothing. He felt a tear slip down his cheek and another's hand wipe it away. He looked over at his Yami and then down at Yugi.  
  
What must it feel like to be missing part of your soul? To be missing the other half that allows you to live and gives you the strength you need. What must both parts be feeling. He felt his Yami sit beside him and together they watched over the still body of their friend.  
  
His breathing was shallow and his pulse was faint, and it was getting worse as the minutes wore on. Not even their friendship was strong enough to fix this. Yugi needed his Yami, his darkness, but he couldn't get to him. He looked over to where the unfinished puzzle lay. No one could have ever guessed that so simple an item could cause all this. It shouldn't have and yet it did.  
  
If only Yugi had had the strength to finish it, they might have been able to get to Yami, but now…he didn't know. The ring was powerless because it was keyed to Bakura and his Yami, not Yugi. But there had to be something else that connected them.  
  
"His deck." Bakura looked at his Yami, not understanding at first, but when he did…  
  
"Hold on to Yugi. I'll get the others." He passed over the small body and raced downstairs. By the time everyone was crammed into the small room Yami Bakura had Yugi propped up and the deck was in front of him.  
  
"So how will this help."  
  
"Think Joey. What was the one thing besides the Puzzle that both Yugi and Yami trusted in?"  
  
"So with this we should be able to create a pathway between the two realms. But he is going to need help drawing a card. It must be his heart that chooses the one that will help us."  
  
"That's where we come in! We're all friends with Yugi and we can give him the strength he needs!" Bakura looked at Tea, she was right. But how to get that energy to Yugi when he was almost dead. Yami Bakura looked at him and spoke softly,  
  
"The answer is in your deck." Bakura thought hard and the answer came to him. When he had first battled Yugi. Yugi's deck had been full of his friends cards and he had himself had chosen his own card.  
  
"The change of Heart. If it can work with the cards than maybe we can use it to give Yugi some strength from each of us and take on some of his suffering." His Yami nodded and Bakura looked at the others. Whether friends, or former rivals, all looked ready to give Yugi he strength he needed. He took a deep breath and placed the card in Yugi's hand and spoke the command. Each felt a part of them enter their friend and saw Yugi open his eyes.  
  
They all held their breath as Yugi drew the card from his deck…  
  
Gaia.  
  
The knight appeared in the room, startling everyone. Without dismounting he grabbed Yugi, his deck and the unfinished puzzle and left for the Shadow Realm. Bakura's card was left in his place. They all looked down at it and then at the place the Knight had disappeared.  
  
"It's now up to Yugi." 


	4. IV

IV  
  
Yami felt something very familiar near by. It was something that called to him and he felt as if he should respond. He turned and tried to move away, but the Lord wouldn't let him. He sighed and turned back to the fight, a bunch of Petite Angels. He frowned; they reminded him of something, or rather, someone.  
  
Shaking his head, he put it out of his mind and destroyed them all at the command of the Lord. It was an easy fight and one he had done before.  
  
So why did it feel so wrong?  
  
Light woke up in a pair of strong arms. He frowned and tried to figure out where he was. He looked around but the scenery just kept moving past him, no wait, he was the one moving! He looked down and saw, beyond the two armored arms holding him that he was on a horse, a purple horse with a blond mane.  
  
He couldn't figure out what was going on and why he was still feeling weak.  
  
"It's all right, young master. I'm taking you to friends. You're safe with me and those that watch over us."  
  
He turned and looked up into the face of what could only be described as a knight. He looked so familiar.  
  
"Where am I? Who are you?" Another thought occurred to him and he panicked. "And where is my puzzle?" In response he felt the knight shift and one arm released him and then came back into view holding the, still unfinished, puzzle. He grasped it and held it tight, fearing it would disappear. But while he held it he felt something wrong.  
  
It felt empty and dark, as if missing something more than just the last piece.  
  
"My name is Gaia and you will now find yourself in the Shadow Realm. It is in this realm that your other half now resides and is being used."  
  
/Being used./  
  
He had a flash of his double in chains from the dream. He felt the horse shift nervously and the knight soothed him. Light looked down at the puzzle and noticed something he hadn't seen before. Circling the whole puzzle were fine chains that were engraved into it. They angered him, he knew they didn't belong and that it was them that kept the puzzle from being completed.  
  
He tried to smooth them over, but they stayed there, he scraped at them with his hands but only succeeded in hurting himself and saw that the chains kept his blood, absorbing it and taking on a foul reddish colour. He wanted to continue to try and find a way to get them off but he was still weak and he drifted again into darkness.  
  
/Yami, what has happened./  
  
/Yami, what has happened./  
  
Yami's head shot up. He knew that voice, the one that spoke directly into his heart. It was his light, Yugi. He was here, in the Shadow Realm. He felt the Lord approach his cage and for the first time in what felt like years he fought the control of the Card.  
  
The Lord didn't like this and neither did his servants, but Yami didn't care. He had a reason to fight! His light was here and there was no way he was going to be used to hurt him. He felt stronger and weaker at the same time. Those around him that were being held captive let up a cheer. They rejoiced in seeing the once Pharaoh fight back. They gained strength from the light that he was trying to call back, but the Lord would have none of it. There may have been no monster powerful enough to stop Yami in attack mode, but there were other ways of dealing with him.  
  
He placed Yami's Card in defense mode and sealed him away. While in defense the card could do nothing, this way stopping Yami from having any powers. The Lord heard Yami cry out in frustration and smiled. He had thought his Card had been broken. He guessed not.  
  
He shrugged. It just made it more fun for him. He would have Yami under his control and he would use him to unleash the Shadow Games upon the world again. He laughed to himself and set his dragons to watching the cage, but knew they didn't have to, while in defense Yami could do nothing. If he had looked back though, he would have been worried.  
  
Yami was smirking, a look many duelers had come to fear, because in his hand was a card, that would help him get free.  
  
//My Light, I'll find a way to you. I just hope it won't be too late.//  
  
But if it was, then he would not hesitate to play the card that would finish it.  
  
Light felt his name being called and woke up, expecting his double and yet when he looked he only saw a blue skinned elf. She looked at him sadly as if she knew whom he was hoping to see. She turned from him for a moment.  
  
"He is awake."  
  
Another elf walked into view. A warrior with a sword and Light wondered why he looked so familiar. This new Elf looked at him and Light could see the sorrow in his eyes and knew that it had something to do with him. Light sat up with effort and looked around.  
  
He was deep within a Forest and the trees seemed to be guarding them. He noticed another elf, one with long green hair and ruby eyes that stared back at him. He recognized this elf too and with that came a sense of annoyance, although he didn't know why he would be annoyed with someone he hardly knew.  
  
"So, he is our only hope of getting the Pharaoh free? Doesn't seem like much."  
  
The warrior glared at the green elf, but it was the blue one who spoke.  
  
"He is the Pharaoh's other half, his light and his friend. If we can get them to join once more than we can free him."  
  
"How where they separated in the first place?" Light flushed, when the green elf looked at him.  
  
"I forgot about him." He whispered it and felt agony at that admittance.  
  
"So why didn't you join back with him when you remembered him again? Where you scared?" The warrior seemed to have had enough and lunged at the other elf. He would have attacked if Light hadn't stood and shouted.  
  
"Yes I was scared! I was scared of what he could do! I was scared of what he made me do and I was angry with him. I didn't want him back! But now I do! He is a part of me and although he is my darker half, we are friends and are bound together. He did the things he did to protect me and I realized how much he cared, even if he was dark. It's a part of him and I still love him, even with that knowledge!" He was crying by the end of it and the warrior turned to him and gathered him in his arms.  
  
Light broke down completely. He felt safe and among those he trusted and yet he was still scared. His other half, his.  
  
/Yami/  
  
.his Yami was alone and captured. He would do everything to get him back. He pulled slightly back from the warrior and looking into his eyes, he remembered a bit more about himself and the games he was going to have to play.  
  
"Celtic Guardian, will you help me get Yami back?" The warrior nodded and Light smiled.  
  
"He isn't the only one who will help you." From all sides creatures appeared, those powerful and weak. Light knew them all, had trusted them all. He smiled and nodded his head. One by one the creatures turned into cards and Light had his deck once more. The only thing left was to get back his Yami. He turned and walked out of the now empty clearing, his deck in his pocket and the puzzle in his hands. He knew he wouldn't be able to finish it without Yami.  
  
As he left the forest he gazed about him. He now had to choose. Where would he find his Yami? He cancelled out the Plains, he knew the Dark Magician wouldn't allow Yami to be held there. He felt the Card's affirmation on this and smiled. Slowly he was remembering. He looked forward and saw a wasteland. No, Yami would not be held in the realm of the dead, or in the wired world of the machines beyond it.  
  
The open field he didn't even consider. Gaia, Silver Fang and the Celtic Guardian were just a few of the many who would not stand to see him held there. That left the sea and the mountains. He gazed at the sea.  
  
It was there that this whole thing started. It was there that his memory had been claimed, but he knew in his heart that it was not there that it would end. No, it was the Dragon realm, the mountains that he had to go to. He knew his Yami was there, but he also knew that he wouldn't get there in time. So, he did what Yami had done a few months past. He trusted in the cards and asked their help.  
  
He didn't even have to pull the card out of his deck to get its help. The Curse of Dragon appeared on it's own and offered its back to Light. He pulled himself up and together they made their way to the heart of the mountains and the fortress that stood there.  
  
He chains around the puzzle grew more pronounced and Light cried out in his mind, hoping Yami would hear him.  
  
/Yami! I'm almost there! Don't give up!/  
  
He heard his light calling to him and smiled to himself. It was now time to play the card he had been holding onto.  
  
Stop Defence!  
  
He shifted into attack mode and destroyed the cage. The dragons reared, surprised and fearful, but Yami was already running. He followed the feeling of his light and was out on top of the castle looking into the sky. The Lord wasn't near enough to control him, so he still had time, but deep down, he knew what had to be done.  
  
He placed the card that would end this facedown in the slot on his wrist. No matter what happened, he would be able to activate it. But first, he wanted to make amends with his light.  
  
He saw the yellow Dragon in the distance and felt his light nearing, he also felt the Lord getting closer to, but the Dragon was faster.  
  
He jumped off the castle and landed on the dragon's back, next to his light. There was a moment where they embraced and then Yami pulled away for a minute.  
  
"I'm sorry Yugi. But this has to end." Yugi looked confused for a moment and then he too felt the pull of the card. While they were joined the card had power over both of them, but Yugi was not yet a card. Yami made the dragon land and it returned to Yugi's deck. Then, just when the Card nearly overtook him he played the magic card he had waiting.  
  
Dark Hole: Destroys all monsters on the field. 


	5. V

V  
  
My notes: This story is for Fairysphinx..and it's not over by a long shot!  
  
Yugi screamed! He knew that card and he knew what was on the field, but he still couldn't believe it. He couldn't wrap his mind around the thought, even when he saw Yami ripped from him, destroyed just like any other duel. Only it wasn't a duel, it was a sacrifice.  
  
He stared at the one across from him and glared hatefully and then was shocked. The Lord of Dragon's was being destroyed too. Yugi understood.  
  
/All cards on the field. You knew that this would happen didn't you./  
  
He didn't get a response and, deep down, he knew he wouldn't. He had lost him. Yami had sacrificed his existance so that the cards would be freed, because what was destroyed in the Shadow Realm, was destroyed forever.  
  
While the land rang with the freed voices of the cards, one voice cried out in pain, one voice against thousands. He fell to his knees. How had Yami known that he would come? How was he prepared? Why did he care, when Yugi himself had not.  
  
He stared down at the puzzle. It was complete, but empty. The chains were broken, because there was nothing left to hold. Tears streamed down his eyes and he felt more than saw his cards surround him. Let the rest celebrate. They would mourn. Mourn a beloved leader, a friend, a teacher.a soul.  
  
/My soul/  
  
A hand clutched his shoulder and he fell into the embrace of the Dark Magician. He sobbed and even this touched the hearts of the other cards. One by one, they filled the land, the story of Yami's sacrifice repeated by thousands of lips. He couldn't bear it.  
  
He closed his eyes and could see Yami. Could see him being used to destroy, saw him caged and saw him wait. He watched in his heart as Yami used their link to see what was happening, watched and felt when Yami recognized his entrance to the Shadow Realm. He sobbed when he saw him smile a grim twisting of the lips.  
  
He watched and learned about the plans, to destroy the borders between the realms. He heard the vow spoken in Yami's mind. The vow never to let Yugi's world be hurt, never again to face the Shadow games. He watched in silent agony as the card was placed face-down.  
  
Then he watched Yami die, again.  
  
But something wasn't right. Yugi still had full strength.  
  
/But I kept growing weaker whenever we were apart./  
  
He looked down at the puzzle again.  
  
"Yami." he whispered the name. "Are you with me still? Are you truly a part of me now?"  
  
He held the puzzle up to him and as he did, he saw a card leave it's place against the puzzle and flutter down to the ground. He stared at it, afraid of what he would find. Would it be a card to bring him back? Would it be him? Is that how he was suppose to live now?  
  
He was still staring at it when the Dark Magician pushed him towards it.  
  
"We'll never know, if you don't pick it up."  
  
The words were spoken softly, but the hope that echoed in them was reflected in the faces around him. A hush fell over the cards as Yugi reached out a trembling hand and picked up the fallen card. He closed his eyes and breathed in, steadying, bracing, and then he looked.  
  
At first he didn't understand. The card was blank, just an outline and where a picture should be it was gray.  
  
"There is no black and white, only shades of gray. It's the blending of two shades. Sometimes it's darker, other times it is near white, but always is it gray."  
  
Yugi looked at the Celtic Guardian, as did many others.  
  
"So what does it mean?'  
  
"Do you accept him?"  
  
"Yes! He was always a part of me, even before I got the puzzle. He is there inside of me."  
  
"He accepted you also, didn't he?"  
  
Yugi could only nod, remembering the feel of talking with Yami, of him guiding him, trusting him and learning to find the light within himself.  
  
"Then you are whole. The Lord of Dragons could never really separate the two of you. Only one of you could and you chose not to. You fought together. It was in different ways, but it was the same fight."  
  
Gaia took up talking.  
  
"When Yami came here by himself, we stripped him of his pride, taking him back to the basics and teaching him how to serve and guard as well as how to use. We used him and taught him a balance. That was his fight, giving up the power and the freedom. When he accepted the Celtic Guardian, he showed that it wasn't just power that could win, it was heart. Each of you knew this,  
  
"But didn't know it's full potential." The Mystical Elf stepped forward. "What good is a heart torn in two? None. He had the strength, you the compassion, but you weren't harmonized, you still worked as two separate people. In a way you are, but you are also the same soul. But neither could admit it. You yearned for a relation like the one you had with Joey, where you knew the other's mind and heart, knew how they worked and why. You both wanted this but thought of yourselves as unequal."  
  
"Yami felt that without your compassion, he was no good, he thought you were his strength." Yugi looked up at the Dark Magician in amazement.  
  
"But I always thought of him as my strength. He was the one who knew what to do and when. He wasn't afraid of anything."  
  
//Yes I was//  
  
"Yami?!"  
  
//I was afraid of losing you. You are my light, my other half and without you I would be nothing. I sometimes thought that you would be better without me and didn't want to get in the way. Than you came here for me, putting the puzzle together.//  
  
The cards were smiling and it was the Celtic Guardian who spoke first.  
  
"I guess some bonds are harder to break." He nodded his head down to the card in Yugi's hand. "Now what does it show you?"  
  
Yugi gasped. The card now had a picture, a picture of him and Yami. They weren't standing there or posed, they were relaxed and right next to each other, holding each other protecting each other. They were equals, they were friends, but it was the title of the card that made Yugi laugh. Just as Bakura had been fond of the change of heart, it looked like he would have a card that would work well with it.  
  
The change of Souls.  
  
He felt arms around him and recognized them immediately. He turned and hugged his Yami.  
  
"How are you here?"  
  
"Didn't you hear what the card said?"  
  
"Yes. It destroyed all cards on the field, so?"  
  
"I'm not a card, I was just locked away in one and now that has been destroyed."  
  
"Then you're free?"  
  
"Here at least."  
  
Yugi looked at him puzzled and Yami just smiled at him  
  
"Yugi, I want you to promise me something."  
  
"Anything."  
  
"When you have a son who needs me, you will pass on the puzzle."  
  
Yugi than understood.  
  
"But you'll still be caged."  
  
"It's a cage I gladly accept as long as I know that you're the one holding the key."  
  
"I promise Yami, but it won't be for a long time. I just got you back."  
  
They hugged and a delicate cough interrupted them. They looked at the Dark Magician and saw beside him a gateway. Through it, they could see their friends in Yugi's room. Waiting to see what happened. Yugi clutched the card close to him and stood, Yami right beside him. They looked at the cards around them and Yugi heard Yami mutter.  
  
"I feel like this is just the begging."  
  
Yugi grinned.  
  
/May your life be interesting/  
  
//It is//  
  
They joined their friends and once again had to explain everything. They didn't mind though. It made a great story and had a better ending. But deep down, Yugi knew Yami was right.  
  
It was only the beginning.  
  
(End)  
  
My note: Okay..if people are nice and want more, I have an idea to right yet another part in what is turning out to be a series. The next will feature Yami's relationship with Yugi's friends and learning to deal with people besides Yugi and not in a dueling circumstance. Of course it won't be that easy. It will be called, 'Ties stronger than blood'..anyone interested??? 


End file.
